| Ben Bradley | |||||||||||||
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| Hollyoaks character | |||||||||||||
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| Portrayed by | Ben Richards | ||||||||||||
| Duration | 2015–16 | ||||||||||||
| First appearance | 26 May 2015 | ||||||||||||
| Last appearance | 27 May 2016 | ||||||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||||
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Ben Bradley is a fictional character from the British soap opera Hollyoaks, portrayed by Ben Richards. The character and casting were announced in April 2015 and Richards made his first appearance as Ben on 26 May 2015. Richards and his family moved to a cottage in Liverpool close to the Hollyoaks set after he was cast. Ben was introduced as a police sergeant and a mentor for Jason Roscoe (Alfie Browne-Sykes), and Ben was given links to long-running characters Darren Osborne (Ashley Taylor Dawson) and Jack Osborne (Jimmy McKenna). Ben was also introduced as a love interest for Sienna Blake (Anna Passey). Richards explained that Ben has a hero complex and sees Sienna as a project that he can fix. It was also teased by Richards and the media that Ben would have a big secret which would have big effects.
Ben's secret daughter Carly (Sophie Wise) was later introduced, and it was revealed that Ben's secret involved helping Carly escape from a drug dealer and start a new life. Sienna suspects that Ben is having an affair with Carly and confronts her, which leads Sienna's daughter Nico Blake (Persephone Swales-Dawson) killing Carly in an altercation. Sienna and Nico cover up the crime and a grieving Ben blames Trevor Royle (Greg Wood) for her death. Ben and Trevor become enemies and Ben tries to kill Trevor and frames him for other crimes. Ben remains unaware of the truth about Carly's death and gets closer to Sienna and Nico. Richards compared the storyline to Othello, and believed that Ben is a good guy who believes that he is making the wrong choices for the right reasons. Sienna and Trevor then start an affair and Sienna marries Ben despite being in love with Trevor.
In May 2016, Richards announced that he would be departing Hollyoaks and teased that Ben would have an unhappy ending. In the storyline, Ben finds out about Sienna and Trevor's affair and takes the blame when Nico stabs Trevor to death. Ben is arrested and made his last appearance on 27 May 2016. Ben is later released offscreen and divorces Sienna. In 2018, the character was revisited when Sienna gets a stalker and suspects that it is Ben, which led to the introduction of his son Josh Bradley (Rupert Hill). Richards revealed that Ben and Sienna's pairing initially had a positive reaction from viewers. Critics had mixed opinions about the character and in 2018 speculated that he was Sienna's stalker.